1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input device for an information terminal, such as an automatic ticket vending machine installed in a station or an information retrieval terminal installed in a convenience store.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, various services have been offered via information terminals. For example, tickets can be routinely purchased using automatic ticket vending machines at stations, and various information services are available using information terminals installed in convenience stores and the like.
However, since the user interface of an information terminal is implemented based on specifications of venders, a person unfamiliar with the operation of an information terminal is sometimes puzzled. Although a user interface in which operations of the information terminal are explicitly explained to novices may be designed, such a user interface may be annoying to experienced users, which may reduce the utility thereof. Furthermore, since conventional information terminals only display predetermined screens in accordance with a sequence of operations, there is a sense of artificiality and coldness.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an easy-to-use input device for an information terminal for both inexperienced and experienced users by changing operation guidance in accordance with the level of a user""s experience with the input device for the information terminal.
To this end, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an input device for an information terminal which has an operational experience determining device for determining the operational experience of a user in accordance with the speed of inputting data by the user to a data input screen; and a display control device for changing the content on the data input screen in accordance with a result of the determination by the operational experience determining device.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, an input device for an information terminal has an image display device, a data input device, and a display control device connected to the image display device and the data input device for creating images displayed on the image display device. In the input device, the display control device displays a predetermined operation guidance on the image display device when no data is input to the data input device within a predetermined period after a predetermined image is displayed on the image display device, while the display control device skips the operational guidance when data is input to the data input device within the predetermined period.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, an input device for an information terminal includes an image display device including a touch panel, a microcomputer capable of receiving one of map data and music data from a host computer by means of communication in accordance with input data from the touch panel of the image display device, and a storage medium writing device for writing one of the map data and the music data received at the microcomputer onto a storage medium.